HackerTube
HomeLongsLikedHistoryWatch laterCategoriesPlaylistsSettings

Brown; color is weird

Technology Connections8 HN recommenders · recommended in 8 months, 2020-2026
YouTube
5.3M views · 6 years ago · explainer · evergreen

Technology Connections explains why brown is not a spectral color but a context-dependent perception, essentially dark orange seen against brighter surroundings.

HN repeatedly recommends it as a surprisingly magical explainer on color perception, often cited in color-space discussions.

Everyday physics & science demosGraphic design & typography#brown#colorvision#rgb#perception#optics

14 comments from Hacker News

@throw0101c2026 · in “Is my blue your blue?”

> Well no, it's turquoise, that's why we gave it a whole different word. For some people "pink" does not exist as a concept, it is "light red". In English we talk about "light blue", but an Italian may talk about azzurro ( galazio (γαλάζιο) in Greek; kachol (כחול) in Hebrew). Is azzurro its own colour different from "blue" for everyone, or only for Italians? Is "pink" a different colour than (light) red? Before the different word of "turquoise" was created, did the colour still exist and/or be perceived? * link If a language/culture does not have a word for "blue" does that mean the colour does not exist? * link * link Where does "white" end and "grey" begin? Where does "grey" end and "black" begin? * link * link * link Also, a bit of fun with brown: * ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@drivers992026 · in “Any Color You Like: NIST Scientists Create 'Any Wavelength' Lasers”

See Technology Connections' video about Brown: ▶ this video He says brown is perceived when you see an orange-wavelength light that is significantly darker than its surroundings, providing the necessary context for your brain to interpret it as brown.

CitesView on HN
@1970-01-012025 · in “How much oranger do red orange bags make oranges look?”

Brown and orange are not different colors. For some illogical reason we prefer to think that they are: ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@JadeNB2025 · in “How much oranger do red orange bags make oranges look?”

In response to the observation the average pixel color is surprisingly brown, I'll take today's opportunity to induct some of my fellow HNers into today's lucky 10,000 by linking Technology Connections's "Color is weird" video ( ▶ this video ).

RecommendsView on HN
@latexr2025 · in “Purple exists only in our brains”

Brown is different, because you can only see it in the right context, otherwise it becomes orange. You cannot create brown light sources. ▶ this video Not naming certain colours does not mean they cease to exist. They can be split, created, and we have the receptors to perceive them.

CitesView on HN
@maximus-decimus2024 · in “If Your World Is Not Enchanted, You're Not Paying Attention”

Or Technology Connections who made me watch a 20 minutes videos on the color brown and makes it feel like magic ▶ this video

Strongly recommendsView on HN
@lutrinus2023 · in “The Weird World in RGB (2019) [video]”

Ah, Technology Connections. Such a great channel! If you enjoyed this video, make sure to also watch his video about the color brown: ▶ this video

RecommendsView on HN
@shever732023 · in “Purkinje Effect”

It seems I learn something new every day about our visual system. Thanks for sharing. Last week, it was a link to Technology Connections' video on the colour brown[0]. I also really enjoyed reading Foone's older blog post, "The EYES Have It"[1]. [0] ▶ this video [1] link

RecommendsView on HN
@abracadaniel2022 · in “Google Kills YouTube Originals”

I love how well that channel is doing. It's an endless rabbit hole of fascination. I will never look at the color brown the same way again: ▶ this video

Strongly recommendsView on HN
@spiralx2021 · in “What Makes sRGB a Special Color Space?”

A great video demonstrating the strangeness of representing colours is this video on the colour brown: ▶ this video Colour theory can get pretty complicated, the video is however very understandable as well as interesting :)

RecommendsView on HN
@kortex2021 · in “New alternatives to HSL and HSV that better match color perception”

Brown is weird [1]. It's basically dark orange. Flesh tones fall into that same category - people are orange-hued [2]. Oranges/reds are mostly produced by various unsaturated molecules, such as carotenes, lignins, phenols, and tars, and browns are just dark collections of many kinds red-orange pigments. It does not map well to any of the common color spaces because its inherently heterogeneous. The solution would probably be pallettes that let you pick arbitrary axes to move through color space. 1 - ▶ this video 2 - According to Neil Harbisson, the guy with the color-sensing antenna, in-person conversation, but you can also verify with photoshop.

CitesView on HN
@avianlyric2021 · in “Show HN: Sorted CSS Colors – Sort the named CSS colors in a nice way”

Worth watching the Technology Connection video on the colour Brown [1]. It's a strange colour that only really exists when placed in the context of other colours, not something that can really be produced by a pure RGB light source, which explains why the CSS Brown colour looks red. [1]: ▶ this video

RecommendsView on HN
@avianlyric2021 · in “Show HN: Sorted CSS Colors – Sort the named CSS colors in a nice way”

Worth watching the Technology Connection video on the colour Brown [1]. It's a strange colour that only really exists when placed in the context of other colours, not something that can really be produced by a pure RGB light source, which explains why the CSS Brown colour looks red. [1]: ▶ this video

RecommendsView on HN
@jasode2020 · in “Impossible Colors”

Fyi on a semi-related topic I learned from a fascinating Youtube video... the color "brown" is a psychological construct[0]. But from an RGB perspective ... there's no such color as "brown"; it's actually just "orange" in a particular context: ▶ this video [0] pedantic alert: yes "every color" is ultimately a mental construct of the brain but hopefully you know what I mean

RecommendsView on HN
The Weird World in RGB22:19

The Weird World in RGB

Technology Connections
2.7M views • 7 years ago
I can't show you how pink this pink is.3:52

I can't show you how pink this pink is.

Tom Scott
9.7M views • 9 years ago
Computer Color is Broken4:14

Computer Color is Broken

minutephysics
4.3M views • 11 years ago
Optical illusions show how we see | Beau Lotto19:00

Optical illusions show how we see | Beau Lotto

TED
3.5M views • 17 years ago
A Better Default Colormap for Matplotlib | SciPy 2015 | Nathaniel Smith and Stéfan van der Walt19:09

A Better Default Colormap for Matplotlib | SciPy 2015 | Nathaniel Smith and Stéfan van der Walt

Enthought
177K views • 11 years ago
CD / Color7:00

CD / Color

Captain Disillusion
2.9M views • 6 years ago
Is Your Red The Same as My Red?9:35

Is Your Red The Same as My Red?

Vsauce
34M views • 13 years ago
The surprising pattern behind color names around the world6:46

The surprising pattern behind color names around the world

Vox
8.4M views • 9 years ago
These Are Not Pixels: Revisited17:04

These Are Not Pixels: Revisited

Technology Connections
611K views • 8 years ago
So... the minute hand shows progression — apparently we think of time in wildly different ways18:15

So... the minute hand shows progression — apparently we think of time in wildly different ways

Technology Connextras
706K views • 4 years ago
But why would light "slow down"? | Visualizing Feynman's lecture on the refractive index28:34

But why would light "slow down"? | Visualizing Feynman's lecture on the refractive index

3Blue1Brown
2.9M views • 2 years ago
LED Experiments: Making Holiday Lights Less Garish12:16

LED Experiments: Making Holiday Lights Less Garish

Technology Connections
238K views • 7 years ago
How Analog Color TV Works:  The Beginnings13:14

How Analog Color TV Works: The Beginnings

Technology Connections
503K views • 8 years ago
Uppestcase and Lowestcase Letters  [advances in derp learning]24:13

Uppestcase and Lowestcase Letters [advances in derp learning]

suckerpinch
477K views • 5 years ago
The LED Traffic Light and the Danger of "But Sometimes!"18:31

The LED Traffic Light and the Danger of "But Sometimes!"

Technology Connections
4.2M views • 8 years ago
LED Christmas lights still annoy me. Let's try some more fixes.19:22

LED Christmas lights still annoy me. Let's try some more fixes.

Technology Connections
1.2M views • 2 years ago
string theory lied to us and now science communication is hard52:11

string theory lied to us and now science communication is hard

Angela Collier
1.5M views • 3 years ago
Why ChatGPT Can't Draw a Full Glass of Wine20:55

Why ChatGPT Can't Draw a Full Glass of Wine

Alex O'Connor
6.3M views • 1 year ago
Lecture by Douglas Hofstadter: Albert Einstein on Light; Light on Albert Einstein52:04

Lecture by Douglas Hofstadter: Albert Einstein on Light; Light on Albert Einstein

Uppsala universitet
23K views • 8 years ago
Building a realistic artificial sun (for dark winter days)19:45

Building a realistic artificial sun (for dark winter days)

DIY Perks
3.3M views • 6 years ago